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Cheryl Howard Adds New Dimension to the Brown Venus

Cheryl Howard portraying Josephine Baker at the Beckett until September 8th

Cheryl Howard returns to
off-Broadway with a new rendition of Josephine Baker, continuing her one woman
play which she has been touring throughout Europe as “Josephine the Musical”
and performing in the United
States as “The Sensational Josephine
Baker.”The play, presented by Emerging
Artists Theatre, is presently running at The Beckett Theatre located at 410
West 42nd Street in Manhattan, just a few feet away from Chez
Josephine, a French bistro, located at 414 West 42nd Street on Ninth
Ave., owned by the “13th” adopted child of Josephine Baker,
Jean-Claude Baker.This journalist
stopped in after the play, with French filmmaker, Mariette Monpierre (who
viewed the show with me), and were treated like Queens
by the bartender Evan, the maître D Jeffrey and the manager, Manuel.The warmth and ambiance of Chez Josephine is
reflected in its treatment of patrons and the beauty of its décor.As patrons left, they mentioned they would be
back and I could see where the bistros ‘bons
temps et les environs agréables’ would prompt customer toreturn again and again.

Written and starred in by Ms.
Howard and directed by Ian Streicher, “The Sensational Josephine,” unlike her
first rendition, reveals less of Ms. Baker’s childhood as Freda Josephine McDonald in St.
Louis, Missouri, where she grew up poor and basically unwanted by her gadabout
mother, but dearly loved by her grandmother who encouraged her 15 year old
granddaughter to audition for the Dixie Steppers.Initially, Josephine was hired as the dresser
for the show and its star but eventually became part of the dance troupe.From there Howard launches into Baker’s show
biz career.

Josephine Baker married at age 14, and was already divorced at 15.She remarried and kept her second husband’s
last name.Eventually leaving her second
husband, she moved to New York
where she joined a show entitled Shuffle
Along, with an all-black cast.She
eventually traveled to Paris witha
troupe who performed in Paris
under La Revue Nègre.Although La Revue
Negre was comprised of jazz and blues musicians, and performed tap and dances
like the Black Bottom and the Charleston,
the Parisians saw Josephine as a novelty and soon she overcame her shyness and
catered to French stereotypes with exaggerated jungle themes.Her penchant for mimicry and exaggerated
faces bloomed into her routine, “Danse Sauvage,” wherein Baker and her dance
partner wore nothing but strategically placed feathers which later Josephine replaced
with satin bananas.

Howard’s version of Josephine was of a naïve young girl whose low self-esteem
got a big boost via male attention and via the Paris Stage while performing at
the Theatre des Chaps-Elysees where her nude form of erotic dancing gave birth
to the term “Art Deco,” bringing about interest in African forms of art and
fashion. Ms. Baker felt a sense of
freedom for the first time having removed herself from American racism.Indeed, years later, when she returned to
perform in America, once
again she was reminded of America’s
desire to keep non-white people in subjugation.Baker was furious when while staying in an American hotel, her white
manager was told to use the service elevator so that the hotel’s white
clientele was not offended by seeing a black and white couple together.The American audiences, comprised mostly of
white people, savaged her performances suggesting she was an untalented clown.

Ms. Howard introduces into her characterizations, a critic of Josephine in
the personage of Lydia Jones, taking on her mannerisms and providing Lydia’s bitchy
take on Josephine in scenes that are simply hysterical.While Ms. Baker’s involvement in Civil Rights
and her stint as a spy for the French Resistance was not part of the show, Ms. Howard
did give the audience a sense of Ms. Baker’s triumphs, failures and struggles
to find love, family and appreciation.Her portrayal of Josephine’s depression and desperation to save her
beloved Chateau Les Milandes and keep her rainbow tribe of children together
was a poignant reminder of Ms. Baker’s fragility and strength.Howard does this with wit, flair, pose, talent
and considerable acting chops.